Food Distribution Temp / Casual

About the Job

Description / Purpose

Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC) is a community clinic in the East Phillips neighborhood that provides medical, dental and behavioral health services to more than 10,600 patients, most of whom are low-income and / or immigrants and refugees.

As a federally qualified health center, CUHCC provides services to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

To address food insecurity a common concern among patients and a social driver of health CUHCC will distribute shelf-stable food bags to patients who need it.

Through a grant-funded partnership with Second Harvest Heartland, CUHCC will also host pop-up food distribution events during summer 2024 for patients and community members.

In addition, CUHCC is planning for a new building in the next five years and hopes to include a Basic Needs Pantry into building design.

CUHCC seeks a part-time consultant (or staff person) to plan and coordinate food bag distribution and summer pop-up events and to develop recommendations for food distribution in CUHCC’s new building.

Responsibilities

Food Boxes for patients (5-7 hours set up)

• Manage purchasing and receiving food from the MN Food Group
• Coordinate volunteers (staff, students, other) to create culturally-specific food bags
• Facilitate staff communication and data tracking

Summer Pop-Up event for patients and community members (approximately 45 hours / month)

• Determine and coordinate logistics with 2nd Harvest
• Conduct assessment of food distribution events at other clinics (Northpoint, Evanston, NHS, Glendale) to develop recommendations
• Work with clinic staff to set pop-dates and internal logistics
• Serve as a liaison to community organizations to understand residents’ needs, promote pop-ups and coordinate with other food distribution events in the neighborhood
• Identify and coordinate staff and volunteers to help with pop-up events
• Pursue pop-up food license, if necessary.

Assessment and planning

• Attend 2nd Harvest listening sessions in Cedar Riverside (spring) and Ventura Village (fall) to understand the emergency food distribution ecosystem in these neighborhoods
• Assess onsite Basic Needs / Food Pantries at other clinics to make recommendation for new building
• Identify potential future partners for new space

Hours and Timeframe : Approximately (average of) 8-10 hours / week between mid-March through October 2024 to plan and implement 2024 food distribution with the possibility of an additional 20-30 hours in 2025 to plan for future food distribution.

Qualifications

All required qualifications must be documented on application materials

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Strong communication skills
• Project management skills
• Familiarity with emergency food providers in Minneapolis
• Ability to work independently
• Experience conducting a needs assessment
• Experience working with diverse communities & cultural backgrounds

About the Department

CUHCC serves nearly 11,000 patients a year through over 55,000 visits annually. The patient population comes from over 12 different racial and ethnic groups that span five continents.

CUHCC’s mission is to seek health equity in our community by advancing the well-being of diverse people. Candidates must be able to adapt behaviors to others’ styles;

interact with people who have different values, cultures, or backgrounds; be of service to difficult people; optimize the benefits of having a diverse workforce.

Teamwork is an essential skill to promote synergy within the organization. Candidates must be able to share due credit with coworkers;

display enthusiasm and promote a friendly group working environment; work closely with other departments as necessary; support group decisions and solicit opinions from coworkers; display team spirit.

Candidates must have excellent communication skills and be able to clearly present information through the spoken or written word;

read and interpret complex information; talk with customers or clients; listen well.

Staff is expected to demonstrate a high level of service delivery; do what is necessary to ensure customer satisfaction;

deal with service failures and prioritize customer needs.